Team Nine
by SamJaz
Summary: Out of the thirty students who passed the initial exam at the academy, only nine went on to become Genin. What about the other twenty-one students? Prequel to Team Nine: Bakumetsu.


Crazy thought I had while reading a story by FlameGage. There were ten teams in Naruto's year, but only three passed. What about the other ones?

Only one OC here, and that's the narrator. The other two teammates were minor, minor characters in the Naruto storyline. Look their first names up.

* * *

**TEAM NINE**

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

"Team Seven will consist of Haruno Sakura…" Iruka-sensei called out, "Naruto Uzumaki" Cheers and groans, "And Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto-kun shouted and complained about the decision about the teams, but Iruka-sensei stood firm.

Once the matter had been settled, for now, Iruka-sensei continued with his list. "Team Eight will consist of Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka."

Pretty well balanced team, if you ask me. Two teams left… "Next, Team Nine." Iruka-sensei called. "Will consist of Ami Kogure, Kota Watsuki, and Kaito Yamamoto."

That's me. I looked at my new teammates. They were both in a bad mood, most likely because they didn't get to be with Uchiha. Kota-kun was one of the few boys in the class who actually liked him, the other apparently being Naruto-kun, after what happened five minutes ago.

Yeah, I know that Jurou-kun knocked dunce into Uchiha, but it was pretty damn hilarious.

To be honest, I was actually hoping to work with Shino-kun. That guy knew his stuff, and was probably pretty cool if you got past the whole bug thingy. Everyone else in the class is either unremarkable or has serious issues. As it happens, Ami-chan has a mid-level obsession with Uchiha, and Kota has a low-level one. For a dude, that's just below stalker.

Me? I couldn't care less. I'm not at the top of the class, but I'm not far behind either.

Once Team Ten had been announced, Iruka-sensei told us to go to our assigned classrooms after lunch, and that we should use that time to get to know each other better. As it happened, Ami-chan had run off with the other girls, and Kota-kun walked up to me.

"Hey, Kaito-kun." He offered me a hand. "Look's like we're gonna be teammates from now on." He smiled.

I shook it. "Wanna go get some Udon?" I offered.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

Couple of hours later, we were in room 303. Turns out, Kota wasn't a stalker. He was just very interested in pretty much everything, especially Kekkai Genkai. I ended up telling him about mine.

Ami was already there with a Woman in a fishnet top sitting on the desk. "Oh?" she asked, "So you two are the other two brats in this team?" she asked us. "Alright, let's get this over with. I'm Anko Mitarashi, your new sensei." She shrugged. "I specialise in poisons and interrogation, but I guess now they've put me on a team." She watched us as she talked. "My favourite foods are soup and dumplings, and I hate spicy food. My hobbies include Tea-ceremonies, sleep, and messing with peoples heads." She yawned and lied back on the desk. "Your turn."

Ami-chan shoved her hand in the air. "I'm Ami Kogure; I don't have a speciality yet. My favourite food is Okonomiyaki, but I don't like the sauce on top. I like shopping and Sasuke-kun." Anko-sensei yawned.

"Booring!" She shouted. "Next!"

Ami-chan looked depressed, but Kota raised his hand. "My name's Kota Watsuki. I don't have a speciality yet either, and I like all sorts of foods. I really like learning and observing people."

Anko-sensei lifted her head to look at him. "Really?" she asked. "What do you observe about me then?"

"You're trying to look bored, but you're actually pretty excited about having a team of Genin." Kota told her. Holy crap is he insane? "And you smiled when you talked about messing with people, you really like doing that."

"Not bad brat." She admitted. "You might have a future in the Torture Squad with a skill like that."

"T-torture..?" I could tell Kota was scared at the prospect. Don't blame him.

"Of course, if you're too scared…" Anko-sensei smiled evilly, and then looked at me. "And you are?"

"Kaito Yamamoto." I told her. "I'm a combat specialist, with my Kekkai Genkai."

"Oh, yeah." Anko said. "Bakaton, right?"

"Bak_u_ton!" I corrected her. "There's a difference between Idiot Release and Bomb Release!"

Yeah, like the ice release, the wood release, and the lava release, my Kekkai Genkai was a fusion of two of the elements: Fire and Wind, which lets me create and control explosions. Pretty awesome, right? "Anyway," I continued, "I like Udon, don't like mushrooms, and I like blowing stuff up."

"Right then." Anko-sensei yawned before sitting up again. "We'll leave it at that for today. Turn up at my house tomorrow morning at seven A.M."

"Where do you live?" Kota asked.

"That's the first part of the test." Anko-sensei laughed. "Don't eat breakfast before hand," She told us, "I'll make you all something good." So, that's why she asked for our favourite foods… "Later!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"How're we supposed to go there if we don't know where she lives!?" Ami complained.

"She said that it was a test." Kota pointed out, "So she wants to know our Information gathering skills."

"Ah," Ami smiled, "So we need to do some espionage!"

"Or we could look it up in the phone book." I pointed out.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

_/\_ _"I'm sorry, but the number you just dialled was a dud. Nice try brats, but do it the ninja way after the beep." _BEEP! _/\_

"Told you." Ami sighed as I hung up the phone. "Look, we totally need to spy around!"

"Or we could just ask someone." I countered. "Ninja are supposed to be discreet right? What better way of being discreet than doing it the normal, non-ninja way?" I'm not lazy, I'm just efficient.

"She did mention that she used to work for the…" Kota hesitated, "…Interrogation force, maybe someone there could tell us?"

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

The problem with trying to find a secret hidden ninja torture chamber, however, is that it's a secret kept hidden by ninja. We seriously couldn't find it anywhere.

By the end of the day, we are all tired out and had made no progress.

Then I saw a familiar face.

"Hey, Shino-kun!"

Shino-kun turned towards me. "Kaito-kun." He nodded. "Kota-kun. Ami-san."

I walked over to him. "How did your day go?"

"Acceptable." He replied. "Kurenai-sensei is a good teacher."

I nodded. "Lucky you, we got some crazy lady called Anko Mitarashi…"

He nodded. "I see. Is there anything else?"

He always was to the point. "Well, we need to find her house for tomorrow's test, but no luck so far."

He nodded. "Are there any rules to how you find her house?"

I shook my head. "If there were, then that would've helped us figure out how to do it."

He nodded. "Do you require my assistance?"

"A good ninja never turns down help from a comrade." I answered, though I was disappointed that I couldn't do it myself.

"A good hive works together." Shino nodded, writing something on a piece of paper. "This is her address."

… "Wait, that easily?"

Shino started walking away. "Goodbye."

"T-thanks!" I was impressed. "See you later Shino-kun!"

Man, that guy is cool. Oh well, I walked back to the others.

By which I meant Kota.

"Where's Ami?" I asked him.

He sighed. "She left, saying that she needs sleep or something."

Sigh. "Well, here's sensei's address." I handed him the paper.

"Seriously!" He took it with surprise.

"Told you, we just need to look around and ask."

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

"Hi there!" Anko-sensei greeted, opening the door for us with a big smile. "Come on in!"

Kota had to find Ami and drag her here. I really don't think she's as serious about becoming a ninja as Kota or I am.

At least, not me. I'm not quite sure about Kota's determination.

"I made everyone's favourites! Udon, no mushrooms, and plain Okonomiyaki!"

"Whoa!" Ami shouted, seeing the table set for four. "Thanks!"

Anko grinned. "Dig in!"

Ami and I rush for the table, though we both remembered our manners and thanked her for the meal. "Come on Kota!" I called him over. "It tastes great!"

Kota took a seat. "Sure, okay. Thank you Sensei!"

Anko smiled, eating her noodles.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

"That was great sensei!" Kota told her after we'd all eaten.

"Mm-hm!" Ami nodded. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, thank you!" I told her. "It was really good."

Anko-sensei smiled. "No problem." She popped a pill into her mouth.

"Uh, what's that Sensei?" Ami asked.

"This?" She gestured to the pill packet. It had two tablets left. "It's antidote."

"Antidote?" I asked, while Kota scowled.

"Yeah, to the poison I just fed you all." Anko-sensei smiled. "I only bought three doses, since I thought at least one of you would pass the deception test."

"Deception?" I paled.

Kota glared. "I knew something was up! Why would you do this?"

"To test your ninja skills of course!" Anko grinned. "The two who can get the antidote from me before the poison takes effect, at noon; they're good enough to become Genin. Otherwise…" Anko stood up and pointed at her watch. "They fail. Obviously."

I look at the clock. It's Eight O'clock now!

"That gives us three hours to catch you then." Kota also stood up. "We're not stupid enough to fall for your clock trick."

"You are observant." Anko grinned wider. "Hope you pass!" She leapt out of the window in a flurry of leaves.

"Dammit!" I shouted, chasing after her. But she was already gone…

"No…" Ami whimpered. "No, I can't die…"

"Calm down," I told her, "No-one's gonna die."

"There are only two doses!!" Ami shouted! "And we need to get them from a Jonin! It's impossible!"

"No, it's not." Kota replied. "We can manage it if we work together. Even if we only get one pill, we can take it to the hospital and ask for more antidotes."

"Good plan." I told him. "How did you know the clock was wrong?"

"Sun, my watch, and noticed it when we came in."

I nodded. "Right, we're gonna have to find her. Ami, you coming?"

She nodded, crying a bit. "Alright, anyone object to me leading?" I asked. Kota and Ami both shook their heads. "Right then. We're gonna chase after her. Keep your eyes open. Kota, our skills can't beat her, so we're gonna trap her under something I can blow up."

Kota nodded. "Right, and Ami can use her shuriken." He looked at her. "You're good at that, remember?"

"Y-yeah." She nodded. Wow, he's good with people.

"Right then," I decided. "Let's go!"

"He~ey!" Anko shouted from across the street. "Sloo~oow!"

I glared at her and clicked my fingers. Red lightning spat from them and rushed to the balcony Anko was standing on, destroying it beneath her feet.

"Miii~iised!" She pulled her eyelid down before jumping away.

"After her!" Ami shouted.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

Eleven fifty-seven, and she kept taunting us.

We even threw link tags attached to Shuriken at the ground beneath her, then exploding the one in my hand, but she kept getting away.

"Not bad!" She shouted, "Working as a team, I like it!" She grinned mid-flip. "But you only got ten minutes left!"

Right, that's it. I know I promised not to do this unless forced, but…

I climbed after her then clicked, sending an explosion straight at her.

"Whoa!" she shouted, dodging the explosion barely, "Damn kid, you're crazy!"

It distracted her long enough for a shuriken to catch one of the pills, which Kota caught. "Got it!" He shouted. "We can get to the pharmacists if we hurry!"

"Right!" I shouted, running straight past our teacher to Kota, as a Shuriken span straight past me. "What!?"

The Shuriken embedded itself into Kota's wrist, and he dropped the antidote, which Ami took and shoved down her own throat. "AMI!? WHAT THE HELL!?"

"I… I don't want to die…" She whimpered.

"SO YOU'D KILL US FOR IT!?" I reached her and stated shaking her. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

DONG!

No…

DONG!

Twelve already?

DONG!

"Hey, Kaito?" Kota asked.

DONG!

"Yeah Kota??" I responded as my gut began to hurt.

DONG!

"It was nice knowing you."

DONG!

"Yeah…" I replied as the poison began to take effect.

DONG!

"It was nice knowing you too…" I finished.

DONG!

I sat down next to Kota, who was clutching his stomach.

DONG!

Ami just stood there, whimpering.

DONG!

Damn, my gut really hurts…

DONG!

It was almost like…

DONG!

It didn't hurt anymore.

"Hey, we still alive?" Kota asked.

"I-I think so…" I stood up.

"EW!!"

"What Kota!?" I span around, and Ami screamed. "What!?"

"You- You just crapped yourself…" Ami told me.

Huh? What!? Oh dammit I have.

"Hey, I think I have too." Kota replied, sitting down.

"You idiots really don't think that I'd give you real poison did you?" Anko asked, as she landed in front of us. "Man, you're stupid."

She glared at Ami. "And who the hell do you think you are!?" Anko glared. "You really think that your life is more important than theirs!?" Whoa, she was scary. "If that was really poison, they would both be dead! You hear me!?" wow, she was absolutely furious. "DEAD!! And YOU killed them!!"

"N-no!" Ami protested, "I-I didn't… Th-they're still alive…"

"They fell victim to the poison, the antidote of which YOU stole!" Anko growled. "By Shinobi Law, you're as bad as the one who gave them the poison." She shook her head. "No, You were their teammate, their ally. You're the lowest of the low."

Anko-sensei sat on a bench. "The purpose of this exercise is to grind the importance of teamwork into your thick little heads." She told us. "You put your life at risk for the good of the team, working together; knowing one of you will die. The Pharmacy idea was good," She admitted, "But there wouldn't be one in the field." She sighed. "In missions, there will always be sacrifices. It's not uncommon for one, two, or maybe all of a team to die while on a mission. You were all taught that at the academy."

Anko-sensei glared at Ami. "But the ones who sell out their teams to protect their own hides…" She spat. "They're the lowest of the low. My teacher did that too. Do you know who he is?"

We all shook our head. "Orochimaru." She told us.

"T-the S-rank criminal!?" Kota exclaimed, "One of the great Sannin!?"

"That's the one." Anko-sensei answered. "However, while you don't have the skill, or the talent to be anywhere as powerful as he is." Anko-sensei glared at Ami once again, "What you did today was as despicable as him."

Ami hung her head in shame. "You all failed this exam." Anko-sensei replied. "However, you two boys have potential, so I'll put a recommendation for you when you go back to the academy. You though…" She glared at Ami with her hand out. "Give me your headband."

What!?

"You aren't fit to be a ninja of this village." Anko-sensei told her as Ami took off her Shinobi headband. "You are hereby expelled from the Shinobi academy."

Ami was devastated. I would have defended her, but the Anko was right.

She would just be a liability on the field.

"Sensei, give her another chance!" Kota pleaded.

Huh?

"We're only Genin!" Kota reasoned. "In fact, we're not even that anymore! She can still improve! Please!"

Fair point. "Can she have another chance Sensei?" I asked, following Kota's example.

"You guys…" Ami said happily.

Anko smiled. "Wow, you guys really learnt the lesson. Better luck next time." She grinned. "You two, turn up for Iruka's class at the normal time. And don't forget to wash your trousers beforehand!" She disappeared in a swirl of leaves, kinda like a cat I read about once.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

Next day, Kota and I went to class with our headbands on.

There were only fifteen of the thirty kids there, including us.

"Alright everyone," Iruka-sensei said as he entered the classroom, "Welcome back." He glanced across the room with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry for not telling you all about the test, but I wasn't allowed. Out of the thirty members of the class, it was already decided that only nine would pass. Which nine they were, however, was decided yesterday. The rest of the people not here…" Iruka sighed, "Were expelled. They will never become Ninja."

Not many people were surprised at that, but I was surprised at how many people had 'truly' failed the exam.

I caught Iruka-sensei's eye. "Hm? Kaito-kun? Kota-kun? Why do you still have your headbands?"

"Huh?" Actually, looking around, we were the only two in the class that still had ours. "Um… Anko-sensei let us keep ours, is that not allowed?"

Iruka-sensei blinked, and then smiled. "Sure, I'm just surprised, that's all." He turned to the blackboard. "Wear them with pride boys. Now, today we will go over what happened in the exam, so you can learn from this in future…"

I zoned out of the lesson there. Did, did we just earn our headbands in Anko's messed up head?

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

* * *

So, there you go. A nice little oneshot about the Ninja who failed.

I'm treating this as canon, since no mention is made to the failures, and Kakashi hinted that he had the authority to make sure his students never became ninja.

So, yeah. Rate and Review. I might go on to do another story later on about these two in a new team, after the next exam.


End file.
